Each year, Juilliard’s Dance Division presents some 30 public performances. Annual presentations in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater include a New Dances series in December, which features each class of students in a new work made especially for them by a prominent choreographer. In the spring semester, Spring Dances, also in the Sharp Theater, gives dancers the opportunity to perform in established works from repertory. The dance calendar also includes an annual Senior Production, a performance series featuring works by senior choreographers; and the popular Choreographers and Composers (also known as ChoreoComp) concert, which presents the results of a collaboration of six Juilliard student choreographers with six Juilliard student composers. Dancers are also encouraged to present their own choreographed works in informal concert and workshop presentations.
New Dances
A Juilliard tradition since 2002, New Dances is the Dance Division's first major undertaking of the academic year. The production features each class of students in a new work made especially for them by a prominent choreographer. Recent choreographers have included Aszure Barton, Helen Simoneau, John Heginbotham, Zvi Gotheiner, Kyle Abraham, Matthew Neenan, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Peter Chu, and Pam Tanowitz.
Spring Dances
The goal of Juilliard Dances Repertory is to challenge students to take on roles in established dance classics. The experience of performing in time-tested roles is vastly different from that of being part of a dance during the creative process. The challenge is to serve the choreographer's original intent, designed in another time and place on another's body, while keeping the movement as alive as when it was first danced.
Student Choreography
Choreographers & Composers (ChoreoComp) is the culminating performance of a semester-long course. Six third-year dancers are selected to create new works in collaboration with music composition students.
Choreographic Honors is held at the end of the spring semester. Works of student choreography, selected from the ongoing choreography workshops, are presented on the main stage as part of a concert that includes the first-year dancers performing existing repertory.
Fourth-Year Productions
Senior Production is one of the capstone events of Juilliard dance training. With faculty mentorship, fourth-year students produce, choreograph and perform the concert, while third-year dancers serve as stage managers, lighting designers, and dancers.
The Senior Showcase performance serves as a graduation concert for the fourth-year students. Each student performs a solo or duet of his or her choosing.
Additional Collaborations
Additional collaborations for on- and off-campus performing opportunities are common. Recent examples include Restart Stages at Lincoln Center, Martha Graham Dance Company’s University Partners Showcase at the Joyce Theater, New York City Center’s Fall for Dance series, and performances with the Juilliard Orchestra, Opera, and Historical Performance programs.
Juilliard Admissions Insider: Dance Performance Opportunities
Throughout each year, Juilliard dancers have many opportunities work with today's top dance innovators and to create works in collaboration with other dancers and Juilliard composition students.
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